What is a generative art NFT? Inside the algorithmic art revolution

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) took the world by storm in 2020, generating billions of dollars in profits for artists and collectors alike. Much of the work sold at the start was standard fare: digital renderings of old masters, eccentric photography, paintings done via iPad.

Soon, a new breed of digital artists began experimenting with the form and producing art more closely tied to the digital world it was sold in. Some artists shopped complex VR art “experiences,” others designed artworks that could be described computationally by blockchain- “metadata”.

Another group seized on a half-century-long artistic format that had long been overlooked, yet seemed to be the perfect foil for the bustling market: Generative Art.

What is generative art?

Generative art, developed in 1965 by the German philosopher Max Bense, arises from algorithms programmed to specific parameters by engineer-artists. The artist defines the general process – what colors or geometry can be used, for example – and then feeds random quantities into the algorithm; what comes out is the generative artwork. Generative NFTs are much the same, and many include additional components of “randomness” related to the mechanics of the blockchain, smart contracts, and NFT “mining”.

Generative art was ideal for producing large NFT collections, running into tens of thousands or even millions of unique works. Unlike profile picture (PFP) collections like Bored Ape Yacht ClubHowever, generative art is also better accepted by the art establishment; they are seen as a way to finally make use of the generative works that date back to the 60s, and many have been featured in meat galleries.

How do generative art NFTs work?

Generative art NFT projects make use of Ethereums defining feature: The smart contract.

Smart contracts are bits of code that execute themselves when certain external conditions are met, making them perfect for developing randomized, data-driven art. Sending crypto to a smart contract—which exists as a sort of blockchain-based escrow—activates it, running code that results in generative art that is then credited to the wallet of whoever activated it.

Take the example of Art Blocks, a very popular generative NFT marketplace for art that earned $1 billion for artists alone in 2021. Art Blocks’ offering included works that made use of the random “hash” signature generated when an NFT is added the blockchain (a hash is a unique alphanumeric code that serves, to put it simply, as a kind of web address for a given resource).

In one highly subscribed series, Fidenza, buyers would not know what their chosen work would look like until the hash was generated at the time of purchase; The Fidenza smart contract would feed the string of digits and numbers into the Fidenza algorithm, producing something surprising and unique.

An example of generative art that goes beyond smart contracts is the Solvency project, which used an AI mechanism called a “GAN” – generative adversarial network – to produce textured moving images based on photographs. GANs exemplify the generative process, pitting two artificial intelligences, the “generator” and the “discriminator”, against each other: the generator tries to produce images that trick the discriminator into confirming them as real, and the discriminator tries to catch the generator out. The result is a learning process that produces increasingly uncanny representations of real life.

Who works on generative art NFTs?

• Autoglyphs – the first “on-chain” generative art on the Ethereum blockchain, produced by CryptoPunks creators Larva Labs.
• Fidenza – a generative art series created by artist Tyler Hobbs; individual works in the series have sold for millions of dollars.
• Art blocks – a generative art marketplace that hosts the Fidenza, Ringers and Chromie Squiggle collections.

Where to buy generative art NFTs

Most generative NFTs can be purchased on standard platforms such as OpenSea and Nifty Gateway; other more specialized platforms such as Art Blocks, Gen.Art and Brain Drops also exist.

The future of generative art NFTs

Although the bottom fell out of the NFT market in 2022, NFTs have given generative artists a storefront and an audience after over 50 years of being largely ignored.

Generative artists like kvix_studio continue to produce fascinating and often hauntingly beautiful works. Meanwhile, Ethereum competitor Tezos launched the generative art platform Fxhash in 2021, further expanding the market.